[UPDATED: Aug. 8, 12:24 am
, Kyiv time. Updated to include recent developments and Trump’s latest remarks]
A senior Trump administration official told Kyiv Post on Thursday that a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not move forward unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also at the table – but Trump later denied the statement.
“[The] United States expects that Putin should meet with Zelensky for the meeting in order for a meeting with Trump to occur,” the official told Kyiv Post’s chief Washington correspondent.
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However, the official also said that this is “a moving picture” and that things are yet to be determined. The location for the proposed talks is also undecided.
Later on Thursday, when asked whether Putin would need to meet with Zelensky before he agrees to meet the Russian leader, Trump replied, “No.”
“He would like to meet with me, and I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killing,” he added.
Kyiv Post has also learned from diplomatic sources that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has delayed his planned upcoming foreign trip to a third nation to be available for potential meetings with Moscow.
The update came after the Kremlin welcomed a potential meeting between Trump and Putin but rejected Zelensky’s participation, with Putin saying that “certain conditions” need to be met without elaboration.
The Kremlin said the Trump-Putin meeting could happen as early as next week.
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Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said there is a “very good prospect” for a summit with Putin and Zelensky “very soon” to end the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky said on Thursday that a potential trilateral summit was among the topics discussed with Trump and European leaders following Trump’s Russia Envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Russia.
Rubio said Wednesday that Moscow had presented a ceasefire proposal to Witkoff, which Trump later discussed with Zelensky and European leaders during a call the same day.
Rubio, however, did not disclose Moscow’s terms.